A captivating look at Parisian fashions of the 1960s and how the ready-to-wear revolution influenced haute couture

The 1960s was one of the most exciting periods in fashion history, as shifting cultural paradigms were embraced by a generation of designers that challenged conventions and reinvented the fashion industry. This compelling volume focuses on the important but too often dismissed fashions that were created in Paris during this time. From the early couture designs of Yves Saint Laurent that initiated a trend toward a more relaxed and youthful style, to the popularity of ready-to-wear fashions by Emmanuelle Khanh – part of a new group known as the stylists – this book traces the development of Parisian fashion during the 1960s and its continuing legacy.

Colleen Hill features eye-catching images from Elle and Vogue, as well as stunning examples of fashion from The Museum at FIT’s world-class collection. She provides an in-depth look at the combined influences of French haute couture, ready-to-wear, and popular culture during this era. In doing so, she describes how the dominance of haute couture was challenged by the ready-to-wear movement, resulting in the rise of a vibrant, youthful, and modern aesthetic in Parisian fashion.

Colleen Hill is associate curator at The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York.

EXHIBITION SCHEDULE

The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York (February–April 2017)

“For the fashion historian in particular, this book fills an important gap, and addresses in-depth for the first time what the French were doing while British and Italian fashion were moving into pole fashion position. It deserves a wide readership.”—Alison Bancroft, Fashion Studies Journal